Little Wonders
by ellieh804
Summary: Parentverse. Post 8x13, sequel to the story Over My Head. Pure crowen with bits of Teddy/Owen friendship, Mertina and many other stuff. Contains military, emotional struggle, happy moments and partly follows the original Grey's storyline.
1. 5 More Minutes

**(If you can't view the new chapter on the list, just click on the previous one and then on 'next'.)**

**A/N: Hello, you are about to read my second fanfiction ever, written in my second language. As you can see, it's full of seconds, so please be tolerant to any mistakes I might make. I also currently write on my tablet, so autocorrect might play it's part in any misunderstanding in the text. It's also a sequel to my other story, Over My Head. Check my profile for it. Thanks for reading:) **

* * *

"Owen. We really have to go. You can have your small talk with her later."

"Sh, Cristina. I know how it goes. You always say we'll meet in an on-call room and you never make it. And today, I don't believe you at all. I bet you're gonna stay at work pretty late, just to make sure that new cardio god or goddess of yours likes you."

"You're changing the subject. I have to be in the hospital in half an hour, and so do you. Just let me put my shirt on!"

Cristina was laying on a bed in only jeans and a black, lacy bra, and Owen was on the top of her, attempting to talk to his daughter, who, as Owen didn't forget to mention all the time, just began to hear. "Just one minute." Cristina rolled her eyes and sighed, but nodded, so Owen turned his attention to her belly. She was showing more and more over time, but it still could be hidden under loose tops pretty easily. "Baby girl. Good morning, honey. I love you, Lime."

"Lime.. More like an avocado," Cristina mumbled with a grin. It was way too early to discuss baby names, so they just called their baby Lime. But as she was growing bigger, she was no longer the size of a lime, however they quickly got used to call her that way and had no intention of changing it.

Cristina let Owen coo at her belly for another minute before she stopped him. "All set? Are we good to go?"

Owen softly kissed the small bump and lifted himself off of the bed. Cristina reached for her shirt and put it on before she got up on her feet, ready to go. Owen put an arm around her waist, gently leading her to the stairs.

* * *

Cristina arrived to the resident's lounge just on time. However, it was empty, except for Meredith and Alex. Cristina bid them good morning and began to change into her scrubs.

After she took her top off, she noticed Alex, along with Mer, staring at her. "What?"

"Something's different," Alex stated.

Cristina pulled her hair up in a messy bun. "Wait, let me think about it. What could possibly be different? Oh, what about the freaking pregnancy bump?"

Alex brushed it off. "No. That's not it. There's something else."

She smirked at her friends. "My boobs?"

"Yea, of course," Alex approved with a sarcastic smile. "Pregnancy definitely has it's perks. Hunt must be thrilled."

"Go to hell. And stop staring at my boobs!" Cristina threw her shirt at him and swiftly put on her scrubs.

Seconds later, all three of them were hiding behind a corner of a hallway near the south conference room. The new cardio attending was in there, accompanied by Owen.

"What's taking them so long?" Cristina whispered impatiently.

Alex turned her down. "Relax. Your fancy surgeries aren't gonna run away. Besides, the source of them is right there."

"Great. And.. I'm going to throw up."

Just when Cristina was trying to look more alive while joining her friends after her brief trip to the trashcan, the conference room door opened. Owen came out first and held the door for the person behind him. Cristina was surprised to see a tiny brunette with a shiny smile on her face. "What the-?"

She was interrupted by Owen, who noticed the three of them standing there. "Dr. Yang. Why don't you come and join us?" Cristina came closer to Owen and the new doctor. Owen didn't waste any time and introduced them. "Dr. Yang, this is Dr. Melanie Holland. She is the new cardio attending at Seattle Grace Mercy West. Dr. Holland, let me introduce you to Dr. Cristina Yang. She is our best resident and also, she's my wife."

"Pleasure to meet you," Cristina said and shaked Dr. Holland's hand. She had a very unpleasant feeling that Dr. Holland is somehow judging her.

It turned out to be real not even a minute later. "You've get something.." She gestured at the right corner of her mouth.

Cristina's hand immediately reached the spot on her own face and realized that a tiny bit of vomit got stuck on her lips. Although Cristina was taller than the other woman, she somehow felt like she was way smaller then her in that moment.

"If you're sick, you shouldn't be working," Dr. Holland exclaimed whilst turning around and heading to the cardio wing, leaving Cristina, Owen, Meredith and Alex behind.

"I'm not sick," Cristina replied to her back. After she was gone, Cristina let out an annoyed sigh. "Seriously, Owen?"

"What?" Owen didn't seem to notice the same things like Cristina.

"That's Nazi 2.0! Upgraded Nazi." Alex behind her burst out laughing. "There's nothing funny on it, Evil Spawn! Oh God I miss Altman.."

"Try to be nice to her, Cristina," Owen suggested, laughing. "She was the only one willing to take this job. You will have to put up with her until Teddy comes back."

"Which will be..?"

"I don't know."

* * *

"You're not scrubbing in, Dr. Yang."

Cristina knew that woman for barely two hours and she hated her already. "Can I ask you why not?"

"Well, obviously you aren't feeling exactly great, based on your condition when we met this morning."

"I am perfectly healthy." Cristina didn't want to tell her she's pregnant. When Owen mentioned they're married in the morning, Cristina felt like that woman thinks marriage is a crime. At least her glance after receiving the information seemed like she thinks it.

"Still not scrubbing in. I'm not risking you'll throw up in a body cavity during surgery."

Dr. Holland apparently considered it the end of discussion and left Cristina standing alone in front of the OR board.

She stood there for circa ten seconds, before she felt someone's hand reaching her stomach from behind. A warm feeling rolled over her when she heard Owen's voice right at her left ear. "How's your day so far?"

"Don't even ask. That woman is a bitch. Just because she thinks I'm sick-"

"You're not sick."

"Don't you think I know that? But I guess Lime didn't like the apple I had for breakfast and I threw up like fifteen seconds before you introduced us. She probably thinks I have some kind of a deadly virus that will kill the patient if I even step into the OR."

Owen kissed the side of her neck, hand still on her belly. "Then tell her you're pregnant. At least she won't make you stand in the OR for ten hours."

"I want to stand in the OR for ten hours, Owen. Not to mention that she would probably hate me even more if she'd find out I'm pregnant. She seems to hate everything that involves relationship between two people. You should see her face when you said we're married."

"So," Owen began, turning Cristina around so he could look her in the eyes. "I suggest you give up on surgery and start shopping for baby clothes, mommy."

Cristina laughed. "Oh, bite me."

"Later," Owen smiled. Then he leaned closer to her and whispered, "What do you think about a brief stop in the on-call room? I've got stuff to tell my little girl."

"That's one hell of an important consult, Dr. Hunt. I assume I can clear out my schedule for that."


	2. Brightest Hour

**A/N: Second chapter, yay me. I'm in a great mood, it's my birthday on Thursday, so I made this chapter happy and glowy. I hope you'll enjoy it:) Thanks for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting:)**

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The pile of textbooks was slightly growing over Cristina's head. Actually, there were two of them. First, the smaller, were books she was already sure she learned perfectly and second, the way larger, well, were the books she had to study. Next to the piles was a load of highlighters that were waiting to be thrown out. And in the middle of this medical, ice cream surrounded mess on their bed, Owen found sleeping Cristina snuggled to a package of onion chips after he returned from his night shift. Her right cheek was pressed to an opened pink highlighter, which created a stain on her face, just as strawberry ice cream did on the t-shirt she stole from Owen. She brushed her hair into two braids that may have been nice once, but were completely messy by the time Owen arrived.

He quietly placed his briefcase on the kitchen island, hoping not to wake her up. There were three weeks left to the resident boards and Cristina devoted all her free time to studying and studying only. Owen could not even as much as mention anything like baby names. And baby clothes or nursery were like curse words in their household. At least for the upcoming three weeks.

Owen made his way through the mess on the floor to Cristina, picking up the piles of books and placing them down next to the bed. After there was no danger of heavy books falling down on his wife, he proceeded to gently remove the onion chips from her embrace. She did not even flinch, she was sound asleep. Studying drained all of her energy. And pregnancy did not help it at all. Cristina was tired and moody all the time and usually got furious when there was not enough food or not the one she wanted at the particular moment. When she wasn't at the hospital, her routine included sleeping, eating and studying. Owen was happy to see a peaceful expression on her face when she was sleeping.

By the time the onion chips were already placed on the nightstand, Cristina shifted a bit on the bed, causing the pink highlighter draw a line across her face. Owen grinned and instead of trying to find the highlighter's cap, he just took it from her and put it away.

She was dressed only in his gray ice cream stained t-shirt, panties, had a pink blotch on her right cheek, matching the color of the line across her face and wore a purple sock on her left foot, the second one nowhere to be seen. A thought that his wife is a pure mess was floating through Owen's head as he covered her with blanket, making sure she'll be comfortable and asleep at least for next few hours. It was her day off, so she didn't need to be anywhere but in bed.

He sat down next to her on the bed, stroking her messy hair. She was his world. He loved her with no limits and even though she would never say it out loud, she did too. He loved every little thing about her. Mostly the way she was passionate about everything she did. He loved her for wanting to start a family with him. He loved her for waiting for him when he left with Teddy. He was completely, one hundred percent in love with the woman with a pink stain on her face.

Owen took off his shirt and pants and cuddled up to Cristina in the bed. He hugged her from behind, casually placing a hand on her stomach. He was just as tired as she was after his night shift, so it didn't take much time for him to fall asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, the clock on his phone showed eleven am. Cristina was still asleep in his arms, breathing steadily and looking as relaxed as a person can be. Owen put his phone back on the nightstand while getting up from the bed. On his way to the kitchen, he stumbled over some shopping bags Cristina left at the bedroom entrance and loudly bumped into a wall.

The noise immediately woke Cristina up. She stirred on the bed and a second later, she was sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She yawned and asked Owen, "What time is it?"

Owen, walking back to the bed, laughed. "Good morning to you too."

She climbed closer to the edge of the bed and when Owen came close enough, she cupped his face in her hands and planted a kiss on his lips. "Morning."

"You look like crap," Owen stated with a smile. "When I came home, you were holding a package of onion chips like your life depended on it."

"Speaking about onion chips, I'd really have some more." Cristina looked around and when she noticed the package on the nightstand, she reached out for it.

"And you've got pink stuff on your face. You fell asleep with a highlighter pressed to your cheek."

"No work today, so no problem," she answered with a mouth full of onion chips. "How was your night shift?"

"Okay. I even managed to get some sleep. You studied all night, said by the state I found in this morning." Owen sat down on the bed next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"No, actually, I didn't," Cristina said, surprising Owen. "After I came home yesterday, Mer and I went to the mall."

Owen laughed. "You went to the mall, Cristina? You?"

She gestured at her bump. "Yeah, I sort of had to, Owen. The belly can't fit into most of my tops and all of my jeans are really uncomfortable to wear as well. I needed new ones. Could you please hand me those bags?"

He got up and grabbed the bags he stumbled over a while ago. He handed them to Cristina.

She put away the onion chips and began to unpack the bags. "I wanted to buy just some simple shirts, tank tops and stuff, but Mer was so annoying I bought even ones like this." She showed Owen a black t-shirt , which had written 'I'm expecting..' over the breast part and 'you not to touch.' over the belly. Cristina smirked. "I actually like this one. I've got even one more very similar to this. It has 'Trust me, rubbing my belly will NOT bring you wealth, good luck or prosperity.' written on it."

"So I should not touch your belly anymore?" He knew the answer before he asked, so he didn't wait for her to reply and kissed her while promptly landing his hand on Cristina's belly.

"You can. You and only you," she grinned and put the black 'I'm expecting' t-shirt back to the others. Before she showed Owen next one, she said, "I just want you to be sure that Meredith made me buy this one."

Owen could not hold back his laughter. He was genuinely surprised that they were unpacking Cristina's maternity clothes here, not discussing tricky questions that'll may appear in the resident boards. "Okay."

Cristina rolled her eyes and brought to the light a white long sleeve t-shirt. It had a pink writing in cursive on it, just a simple 'It's a girl.'

"It's really pretty," Owen assured her. "But, please, tell me Mer did not talk you into buying any 'Loading' shirts."

"Oh, don't worry. She didn't. Those were the ugliest prints I've ever seen." Cristina folded the white t-shirt and put it away. She searched one of the bags for a while until she had a small folded piece of pink fabric in her hands. "I've also bought this." She unfolded the piece of clothing and handed it to Owen.

It was a pink baby onesie, the newborn size, with a white writing 'Best. Oops. Ever.'

"This is the cutest and the most accurate thing I've ever seen," Owen exclaimed, grinning.

"Right?" Cristina smiled while taking the onesie back from him. "You know, Owen, this is Lime's first clothes."

"She's gonna rock the nursery in it after she's born," Owen said, looking into Cristina's eyes.

Cristina was rubbing her belly in a slow pace. After a minute of silence, she said, "We should get a bigger place." She gestured to the space around them. "The firehouse isn't big enough. Plus the fire pole.. She may fall down there when she's older."

"You're right, Cristine. We should get a bigger place," Owen agreed. He looked at his wife. She was sitting there, holding a baby onesie in her hands, talking about the future of their little family. And it hit him how much she's changed. With a smile, he leaned closer and kissed her. When their lips parted again, they both were smiling. "I love you," Owen said, rubbing her belly.

Cristina smirked. "I love you more." She pecked a kiss on his lips. "I should really get back to studying now."

"Yeah, sure," Owen agreed and got up from the bed to get a shower.

"And Owen?"

"What?"

Cristina smiled coyly. "Would you mind getting me some cinnamon ice cream from the store when you're finished showering?"

He stopped in his track. "I'll pick up some onion chips, too."

She laughed. "That's exactly why I love you!"


	3. Keep Holding On

**A/N: A tiny little baby bit of swearing is exactly what I need to warn you before you start reading this chapter. Anyway, enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. And I also wanted to thank you for every review you write, it's great to wake up in the morning and see the notifications about them in my mail.**

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It's a slow day in the pit, thought Cristina. It's a slow day in the pit, it's a freaking slow day in the pit!

She seriously didn't care about jinxing anything, because the only thing she wanted at the moment was a big, big trauma coming through the ER entrance. The only one who was keeping her company was the chart of a patient with an ascending aortic aneurysm, which she stole from Dr. Holland. The surgery patient's condition led to was going to be one of the big ones and if Teddy was here, Cristina would certainly not be covering the pit today.

As nothing was happening in the ER, Cristina continued examining the chart. Type A aortic dissection, leading to death without immediate treatment. Holland was probably rushing the pre-op care right now.

"Crap," Cristina mumbled quietly.

Someone leaned on the counter next to her. "You got anything good?"

She quickly hid the chart before glancing at that someone. It was Alex. "Go away, Evil Spawn."

Before he could answer her, the ER door opened. Alex attempted to reach the patient first, but Cristina hit him with the chart.

"Ow, are you crazy?!"

Cristina hit him once more and then tossed the chart aside. "That's my patient!" Sleep deprivation, lack of surgeries and pregnancy did their work on her.

"Calm down! Okay, okay, you can have that one." Alex was a bit overwhelmed by the sight of Cristina with messy hair, exhausted, and with a wild expression in her face standing in front of him. It looked like she was determined to attack him if he even tried to step closer to the patient. "I'm gonna go ask Robbins if I can help her in the OR."

"My middle finger salutes you," Cristina shouted at him while he was leaving and then finally made her way to the patient. He was walking on his own, actually a bit limping. "Good morning. How can I help you?"

"I-I twisted my ankle," the old man exclaimed.

Cristina raised her eyebrows before she decided she had enough. Enough of this stupid pit with no cases, while Holland is about to do a kickass surgery few floors away. She seated the patient on one of the ER beds before paging the first intern she could think of. After he arrived, she gestured at the patient and without any words rushed to the door in the direction of an elevator, taking the chart of Holland's patient with her.

* * *

"I want on the case. I studied the chart, I've done my research about the procedure and I noticed that you have no resident assigned to this case." Cristina did her best to remain calm while trying to persuade Dr. Holland. She already developed a strong hate for the new head of cardio and it was very difficult for her not to raise her voice. They were standing in the hallway next to the OR being prepared for the surgery and Cristina didn't want the entire hospital to hear their fight, needless to say that Holland would probably hate her even more if she burst.

"Don't you have any work to do, Dr. Yang?" She smiled at Cristina in the most mocking way she's ever seen. And that really was something, she was a friend of Alex after all.

"A modified Bentall procedure is really rare surgery. Being able to scrub in would be a very helpful experience."

Holland continued staring at her without saying anything. Few incredibly long moments passed when she finally said; "You can scrub in, Dr. Yang."

"Thank you," Cristina replied, relieved. She'll get to cut.

She tried to keep thinking positive all the way through scrubbing and it wasn't until the composite aortic valve graft was in place that she started to feel a bit uneasy.

All that was left to do to finish the surgery was to stitch up the patient. Dr. Holland left that job on Cristina while observing from behind. Cristina made another stitch, ignoring the mere pain in her abdomen. She made a mental note to go checked out after she's finished here. It won't take long anyway, minutes, tops.

But she couldn't help twitching in pain, so it was only a matter of time before someone will notice. Unluckily, it wasn't any of the scrub nurses, but Holland herself. "Is there any problem, Dr. Yang?"

A doubting thought flashed through Cristina's head. What the fuck is happening? And then a look of horror appeared on her face as she remembered the car accident at the beginning of her pregnancy. She had to resist the sudden urge to drop everything and just touch her belly in an order to soothe her baby girl.

Her look stopped at the half-opened chest. Calm down, she thought. You're a doctor. You have a responsibility. There's a patient on the table.

Cristina took a deep breath. "Everything is okay, Dr. Holland."

"Then would you mind closing that wound? I have a pretty busy schedule today."

"I'll be done in a minute." She did another flawless stitch, focusing on keeping her hands from shaking. She could barely think, all her thoughts seemed to overflow with dead babies. But she can't be dead when there's still pain, right?

From time to time, she felt a stab of pain in the area just under her ribcage, but somehow Cristina managed to stand straight and finish even the last stitch. After she handed away the instruments, she began to almost run to the scrub room to finally get away from the OR and get herself checked out. The patient was perfectly fine, for now, so she allowed herself to think about her and her baby.

She was almost gone, but she heard a voice behind her, the voice she was so annoyed of hearing. "Dr. Yang?"

"Oh, what?!" Cristina uttered, panting, holding back tears of pain.

"Good job. Would you like to come with me to inform the patient's family?"

"Do I look like I want to?" She didn't care one bit about what will Holland think about her. Who could possibly be so dumb to not to notice her condition? Cristina didn't wait for an answer and while angrily muttering 'eat shit and die' ran out of the door.

She didn't even make it to the end of the hallway. Before she could get there, in the full speed she bumped into Owen.

He grabbed her shoulders and held her on an arm's length. "Cristina, where are you running?"

Cristina stumbled upon the words she was trying to tell him as much as possible as fast as possible. "Lime, in the OR.. I need to get checked.. Will you go to the OB with me?"

Owen didn't understand almost anything she was saying. He took her by a hand and led her to the nearby on-call room. After he closed the door behind them, he sat down next to her on the bed. "Cristina, tell me again, slowly. What happened?"

So she told him. "I-I.. Everything was okay this morning, but at the end of my surgery with Holland-" Cristina sharply exhaled while she felt the familiar stab of pain again. "Oh god, this hurts.. At the end of my surgery with Holland, exactly this started happening and it scares the crap out of me because of that accident I had in the first trimester. I need to get checked out." Smile spread across Owen's face. "Why are you smiling?"

"Cristina, you don't need to get checked out." He pulled up her scrubs and a tank top she was wearing underneath and gently placed her hand on the top of her belly. "Lime is just kicking."

Her eyes showed pure surprise. "W-what? She's- Ouch!"

As Cristina exhaled in pain, Owen felt a kick against his hand. "She's kicking partly against your ribcage. That's why it hurts so much."

Cristina took Owen's other hand, the one he wasn't resting on her belly. "Well then make her turn around or stop. Ow!" After a second she realized what was Owen saying. "She's kicking."

"She is," Owen confirmed, pecking a kiss on Cristina's cheek.

"I maybe have told Holland to eat shit and die," Cristina confessed, drawing circles with her finger all over the belly.

"You told her what?" Owen laughed.

"I was scared that there was something wrong with our baby, I really needed to go to the OB and she wanted me to go with her and inform the patient's family." Cristina drew a little heart on the belly. "I'm not sure she heard me, there was quite a mess in the OR, but still."

Owen shut her up with a soft kiss. "You're crazy. Do you know that?"

She chuckled silently. "Yeah, someone has already said that to me today."


	4. These Times

**A/N: I was having a really bad case of a writer's block for the past two weeks.. It's almost gone now, thank god. Anyway, enjoy this new chapter:)**

* * *

Cristina was sitting at a table in the resident's lounge with a coffee cup in front of her. She looked exhausted, didn't even change into her scrubs yet and kept yawning. Meredith on her right side was like her reflection, but instead of Cristina, she looked not exhausted, but asleep while resting her head on Cristina's shoulder with her eyes closed.

It was quite a sight for April when she walked in. She grinned and glanced at Cristina, "You shouldn't be drinking coffee while you're pregnant."

"Relax, there's an orange juice in it." Cristina took a sip and placed the cup back on the table. "How do you look so alive? We're going to the boards tomorrow, April."

"I drank like four cups of coffee," April said while putting on her scrubs. "And I still feel terrible."

Meredith slowly sat up straight and leaned on her elbows against the table.

"I bet you feel better than me. The baby's been kicking me all night long. Owen had to be up with me and talk to her so I could focus."

April remained quiet for a while, before asking, "Is she.. Is she kicking right now?"

"It's the only thing that keeps me awake." Cristina yawned again and tucked her messy hair behind her ear.

"Can I feel it?" A look of excitement appeared on April's face.

Cristina shrugged off her gray hoodie and revealed her 'I'm expecting.. you not to touch.' shirt. "Read the shirt, April."

"Come on, that's just-"

Before April had a chance to finish the sentence, Meredith cut her off, when she, out of a sudden, started talking to the belly. "Hello, this is your favorite auntie!" While talking, completely ignoring Cristina's shirt, Mer placed her hand on her friend's stomach.

"Meredith!" Cristina grumbled, but didn't push her hand away.

"She just kicked against my hand!" Meredith exclaimed happily.

Cristina raised her eyebrows. "I know, I felt it."

April promptly placed her hand next to Meredith's. "Yay, baby kicks," her face lit up after a second as Lime kicked against her hand too.

While Mer and April were fighting over whose hand stays on the belly and Cristina was trying to get both of their hands off of her stomach, Alex walked in. "What's going on here? A let's-all-feel-Cristina-up day?"

Cristina was fed up with the tug-of-war in front of her, so she got up from her chair, pushing April's and Mer's hands aside. "Stop. I just need a minute without neither of you touching me!" She walked towards her locker with the coffee cup half full of orange juice in her hand. "Read the shirt."

"It's a really nice shirt," Alex uttered, and grinned before he began changing into his scrubs.

"Shut up, Evil Spawn." Cristina tugged the said shirt off and pulled a scrub top over her head. "I really need to cut today."

Meredith next to her was getting into her scrubs as well. "You're on Holland's service. You will cut today. I'm on ortho."

"At least you'll deal with Callie." Cristina sipped her juice while putting a pen and a notepad in her scrub's pocket. "Being with Holland feels like defusing a bomb. One bad movement and you're out."

Just as they were preparing to accompany their attendings, Owen strolled into the room with a real estate catalog in one hand and a black sharpie in the other. "Have a minute?" he said towards Cristina, who slowly nodded and joined him at the table. He opened the catalog and showed his wife three circled houses. "Look at those. All have three bedrooms, a basement and a huge garden. Which one do you like the best?"

Cristina smiled. He knew exactly she didn't want to ponder about their new house for a long time. And she believed in his judgment about houses more than in hers anyway. She quickly looked over the three houses and said, "The white one has a patio, a terrace and a garage. Oh look, and a fireplace! That's the one."

Owen opened the sharpie and crossed out the remaining two. "I liked the white one the most too." He kissed Cristina on the cheek. "I'll close the deal. See you here at six?"

"Yes." A devilish look appeared on Cristina's face. "Or maybe we could have a lunch together."

"Oh, a lunch. I'm definitely into that." He pecked a kiss on her lips before he headed towards the door. "Keep your phone on."

* * *

"Come on, Owen. It's dialing already!"

"I'm coming, I just don't want to spill your juice." Owen rushed to the bed and left the juice on a nightstand. He sat down next to Cristina, who had a laptop in front of her on the bed, and put an arm around her shoulders. They both were staring at the screen as a video chat with Teddy was dialing. She called Owen this afternoon that she'll have some time before she'll go to the field in the morning and she'd like to see them. Now it was nine pm in Seattle and seven am in Baghdad.

Just when Owen started thinking about trying it a little bit later, Teddy finally accepted the call and her smiling face appeared on the screen. "Hi!"

Both Cristina and Owen smiled back at her, "Hello."

"Show me the belly!" Teddy ordered enthusiastly towards Cristina.

"You're not even excited about seeing me?" Owen mocked her with a grin.

"I am, of course I am," Teddy impatiently brushed him off as Cristina pulled up her sleeping shirt and revealed her growing belly. "Oh geez, how far are you again?"

Cristina lightly smiled. "Five months tomorrow."

"Not that she's counting," Owen uttered sarcastically.

Teddy laughed and Cristina punched his shoulder. "How about that tomorrow I'm leaving for the resident boards and I haven't slept properly in a week? I'm gonna doze off during the exams."

"You'll kick everyone's asses, Cristina," Teddy proclaimed. "Don't worry."

"She's like a walking textbook." Owen drew Cristina closer to him and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Did I mention to you when you called that we're moving?"

"No, you didn't. So you already chose a house?"

Owen reached for the catalog he placed on a nightstand after he got home and showed Teddy the picture.

"It's so blurry, I can't see it." Teddy shifted closer to her laptop, but it didn't help at all.

"I'll email it to you," Owen suggested and put the catalog down.

"And what about you? How are you doing?" Cristina asked Teddy. Despite the huge smile on her face, Cristina doubted that Teddy was alright. When she asked Cristina to show her the belly, she did so only because it was Teddy. If it was anyone else, maybe even Mer, she would refuse. But Teddy.. She was a special case. She's been through a lot lately and she needed every single little thing that'd make her feel better. So Cristina was willing to show off her belly, as long as it helped her mentor and her friend to be okay again.

"I'm fine." Teddy broke the eye contact with the webcam. "I'm working."

"Are you coming back anytime soon?" Owen asked with an amount of concern in his voice. "We miss you."

"No- I, I don't think.." She was stumbling over her words. She paused for a while and then looked into the webcam again. "I don't think I'm able to do that yet."

"I understand." Owen sighed and exchanged a sad glance with Cristina.

Someone called out Teddy's name on the other side. She looked in the voice's direction and then back at Owen and Cristina. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'm glad I got to see you two. And keep me updated on the baby! Bye."

Before either Owen or Cristina got to say their goodbyes, Teddy ended the call.

After a minute of silence, Owen spoke up. "Well, that's bad."

Cristina shut the laptop closed and placed it on a nightstand. "That's really bad."

"I'll pull some strings and make sure someone will keep an eye on her. Just in case." Owen laid back on the bed and covered himself with a blanket.

Cristina quickly followed his example. "I'm so tired, Owen."

He wrapped his arms around her and she closed her eyes. "So sleep. We already made sure you have everything packed for tomorrow, I'll help you with the suitcase and I'm sure that Avery or Karev will help you with it when you arrive to the hotel. You learned everything perfectly and I'll see you off tomorrow. There's no reason why forcing your eyes open."

She softly chuckled. "My suitcase has wheels, Owen. And there's an elevator in the hotel." She turned around so she could face him. "Don't freak out."

He planted a kiss on her lips. "I won't."

"Let's go to sleep now." Cristina reached for a light switch and then positioned herself back into his embrace.

As she felt his warm breath on the back side of her neck, she smiled for herself. It was just perfect.


	5. Distance

**A/N: Another chapter! Enjoy it:) If you can, check out my Instagram for crowen edits, it's crowenislife. I often drop there some hints about when the next chapter will be posted or I upload my crowen drawings there. Also I would like to know if you have any suggestions of what should Lime's name be? If you want to suggest something, write in a review or on my Instagram:)**

**(I had to repost this chapter, there was some inconvenience with viewing it.)**

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Every resident in front of the hospital was talking with their mentor. That was the first thing Cristina, alongside with Owen, observed after she arrived to the ambulance bay.

After careful consideration, she decided that she has no will to talk to Holland and turned around to face Owen, who was in charge of her suitcase. "You can go, Owen. Talk to Kepner. I'll be fine here." She placed her hands on his chest.

He put his hands around her waist, drawing her closer. "Do you honestly think I'd choose Kepner over you?"

"No," Cristina whispered before stood on her tiptoes and kissed her husband.

"I'm gonna miss you," Owen said after their lips parted, ignoring the buzz around.

Cristina chuckled. "I'm only going to be away for one night, Owen."

"That's one evening without having dinner together, one night when you won't sleep in my arms and one morning without our baby kicks time." Baby kicks time was something Owen came up with - as Cristina was busy at work all day long, he had no time to actually enjoy the baby kicks. So he suggested that they dedicate fifteen minutes in the morning to just laying in the bed and enjoying their girl's activity, because she was always the most active in the morning.

"You're so sappy every time we're saying goodbye," Cristina rolled her eyes. "I'll be back tomorrow, you can last one night without me."

Owen took her left hand in his right. "I don't think so." He smiled sadly. "Call me after you check in. I'll text you in the evening."

"Oh, don't parent me. Save that for Lime," she teased him with a playful grin.

With her hand still in his, Owen leaned to her for another soft kiss. "We should really talk about a name. We can't call her Lime forever. She's more like a-"

"Carrot. Or a banana, I know, I've done my homework," Cristina exclaimed. "It may have escaped your notice, but I had a few books about baby care mixed between the surgical ones. I studied them just as responsibly and now I can proudly say.." She paused for a brief moment, probably for the dramatic effect. "Our baby is never going to have a diaper rash!"

Owen burst laughing. "I don't think you're supposed to go through this kind of books with highlighters and sticky post-its."

"Well, I did, but now I have to focus on surgery once again." She was gently stroking her belly with her free hand. "So no baby talk, Owen."

"But I love baby talk," he said, making a disappointed expression.

"I know." She closed her eyes for a few seconds before putting her arms around Owen's neck and hugging him tightly.

He wrapped his arms around her small frame, carefully, so he didn't press her too tightly, just as much as not to harm the baby.

"It's probably about time to get you on the bus," Owen whispered into her hair.

She slowly released herself from his embrace. "Yeah."

He retrieved her suitcase, took her by her left hand and slowly led her to the bus. While taking her hand, he noticed something. "Cristine, are you wearing your rings?"

"Yes," she smiled. "I figured that when I'm going somewhere nobody knows I'm married, I should wear them. I mean, not that somebody would want to hit on me, I'm pregnant, but still."

Owen barely let her finish the sentence before he kissed her. He cupped her face in his hands and it felt like they were all alone in the ambulance bay. Like all the people were suddenly gone. There were just the two of them in their perfect pink bubble.

After their goodbye kiss ended, Cristina reached for her suitcase, but Owen stopped her. "Don't even think about carrying it to the bus yourself. I'll go in with you and put it above your seat. And when you arrive to the hotel, ask someone for help!"

"Seriously, Owen, stop parenting me," Cristina smirked while getting on the bus, Owen just behind her.

Exactly as he claimed previously, he put her suitcase above her seat and waited until she got comfortable on the bus before he said, "Take care now."

Cristina smiled and whispered, "I love you too."

After that, Owen got off the bus and stood alongside with the other attendings, waiting for the bus to take off.

They didn't wave or anything, only exchanged a last glance, knowing they'll see each other again soon.

When the bus was gone, Owen walked back inside the hospital, heading nowhere particular. Just as he was pondering the thought of going to the vent for a short period of time, Dr. Holland approached him with her usual unreadable expression. "Good morning, Dr. Hunt. How come your wife didn't come to me for some words of encouragement before she left?"

"Morning. She wanted, but she was.." Owen revived what happened before the bus took off, and in the morning in the firehouse. "Busy."

"Is she ever planning on informing me that she's pregnant?" Holland uttered steeply.

"Why would she? It's a well-known fact around the hospital." Owen was astonished. Did Holland really want to waste his time on this kind of conversation?

She gave Owen a look that could burn. "It's polite to do so."

A sudden anger built up inside of him. "Cristina is not that kind of a person. And for the love of God, leave her alone. I noticed you've been giving her a really hard time since you came and I don't really understand why, but it's inappropriate." And with that, he stormed away, heading straight in the direction of the vent. He wasn't sure if he'll tell Cristina about this. He should.

And he did. Cristina finally got some time to respond to her text messages in the evening, after all of them were checked in and comfortable in their rooms. She wouldn't probably check her phone at all, if Meredith wasn't sick. But otherwise, she had no company and she got bored awfully fast.

Laying on the bed, she took her phone in her hands and proceeded to unlock it. For a brief moment, she paused to look at her lock screen. It was a photo of her and Owen that Meredith took of them the day he came back from Iraq. He was in his army uniform, smiling ear to ear, hugging her, and she had her arms wrapped around his neck, attempting to be as close to him as possible. They both looked genuinely happy and were smiling into the camera.

Cristina smiled at the memory of the day and unlocked her phone. Right away, she dove into the pool of Owen's text messages that piled up in her inbox through the day. She looked over them all, but what really caught her notice was the last one. So Holland knew that she was pregnant. Of course, it was kind of obvious, Cristina couldn't hide her belly in a scrub top anymore, and honestly she didn't even try to. Everyone in the hospital knew it anyway. What did Holland expect? A delegation? A message on a pretty stationery? Cristina sighed and began to think about a response.

'Everything is okay, we arrived on time. Yes, Alex helped me with my suitcase. No, I'm fine, but Mer is sick. I can't think about Holland right now, it'll be fine. I miss you.' Owen replied almost right away. 'I miss you too. The firehouse is so empty without you. And keep your distance from Meredith, I don't want you to be sick too.'

She had to smile at his response. He was so caring. 'Don't worry, I'm not getting nowhere near her germs. I'll go to sleep, Owen, I'm tired. I love you.'

'Goodnight babe, I love you too.'

She put her phone away and tried to close her eyes and sleep. But her mind was racing at the top speed. With the boards tomorrow, all the worries about the baby and Owen being so far away from her, she just couldn't

After a few minutes of tossing and turning, Cristina got up from her bed and walked out to the hallway. It was not much later when she, without knocking, entered Alex's room. He was in the bed, with his head buried in a pillow.

She sat down on the bed next to him. "Alex."

"What do you want?" His voice was muffled by the pillow, but the annoyance in it was still noticeable.

"I can't sleep. Mer is sick, so I can't sleep with her, thus I'm gonna sleep with you. And shut down your dirty mind," Cristina said as she covered herself with Alex's blanket and laid her head down on one of the pillows.

Alex lifted his head up and looked at his friend. "Seriously?"

She gave him one of her mocking looks. "Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"Oh god," Alex breathed out as he buried his face back into the pillow.

"You're not much of a support, Evil Spawn." Cristina wrapped herself up tighter in the blanket. "I don't want to sleep with you neither."

"Then don't."

"I can't sleep alone, okay?" she said quietly. "I.. I miss Owen. Since he left for the military again, I miss him constantly when I'm not with him. I miss him all the time." Her voice grew more quiet with every word she said.

Alex didn't look at her. In fact, he didn't move at all.

"Who am I kidding? I should just go back to my room and-"

Before she could finish the sentence and get up, Alex lightly touched her hand. "I'm sorry, okay? You can stay."

Cristina nodded, but he couldn't see her, as his head was still in its previous place. However, as she laid down again, he turned around to face her and took one of her hands in his, barely squeezing it. Cristina lightly smiled at him.

They weren't touching in any other way. And soon enough, Cristina found herself much more relaxed than she could ever be alone in her room. Alex's breath was steady and calm. He fell asleep in a moment. Cristina had closed her eyes as well and began to slowly drift away into the darkness.


	6. Not Falling Apart

**A/N: Hi again! So, I finally got to start up the first drama storyline. And keep in mind, this story follows partly the original storyline. And who remembers what happened in the season 8 finale, shortly after the boards..?**

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Alex didn't get much sleep that night. In fact, he hardly got any. After the clock turned two am, he was forced awake. What woke him up was the feeling like his hand was being squished in a vise.

He opened his eyes just to see Cristina writhing in her sleep, painfully squeezing his hand. With his other hand, he reached for the lamp on his nightstand. When the room was filled by the light, Alex leaned over Cristina. "Cristina. Hey. Wake up. Cristina.."

She slowly eased herself awake, immediately covering her eyes with her hand. "Why is the light on?" she asked, confusedly. She still wasn't one hundred percent aware what's happening around her.

"What the heck is going on? What is wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare?"

Cristina rubbed her eyes and yawned, letting go of Alex's hand in the process. "No, I-" Her eyes widened in shock as she threw the blanket aside. "Alex, I'm bleeding!"

"You're what?!" Alex's stare stopped at the bloody stain Cristina way laying in. "I'm calling 911." No matter how many doctors were in that building, everyone knows that when a pregnant woman is bleeding, you call 911, you don't run around and ask if anyone happens to have an ultrasound.

"Call Mer," Cristina shouted at him in panic. "Do you hear me? Call Meredith!"

He jumped off the bed with his phone in his hand. "I'll go get her. You stay here. Don't move and lay down."

"Alex!"

Her voice stopped him in his track.

"Do you think it's a miscarriage?" She was almost afraid to ask. Her question came out in barely a whisper.

His eyes met hers. "I don't." With that, he ran out of the room.

Cristina leaned against the headboard, trying to stop the tears of panic from streaming down her face. She can't be losing her baby, after all she's survived. She's a fighter. And her baby's a fighter too. _Breathe, Cristina,_ she encouraged herself. _In and out. In, out and repeat._

Alex stormed back in the room with Meredith right behind him. She was dressed in gray sweatpants, a red t-shirt and had black sneakers on. Her hair, just as her clothes, were a mess. There was no doubt Alex just woke her up and she threw on the first clothes she could find.

Meredith climbed on the bed and sat down next to Cristina, taking her hand in hers. "Alex already called 911. They're on their way." Meredith stroked Cristina's hand with her thumb. "Do you want me to call Owen?"

Cristina shook her head. "No. Not until we know exactly what's going on," she managed to say through her silent sobs she tried so hard to keep inside.

By that time, Alex was already dressed as well and had a spare blanket in his hand. "We have to go, the ambulance is like two minutes out. No time for you to change." He wrapped the blanket around her and then scooped her in his arms.

After Alex and Cristina were out of the room, Meredith turned off the light and closed the door. She didn't hesitate for a second and ran after her friends. There was no point in waking up Kepner and Avery. Cristina wouldn't want them to come anyway.

Cristina was curled up in Alex's arms with her eyes closed. She didn't think she was bleeding heavily, and she wasn't in any pain. It just couldn't be a miscarriage.

"Owen.." she gasped.

Meredith, trying to keep up the pace with Alex, was completely pale, but still by their side. "What? Alex, did you catch what she said?"

Alex was breathing heavily, speeding up to get to the elevator before the door closed. "Call Hunt."

Before fishing her phone out of her sweatpants' pocket, Meredith reached out to keep the elevator door open. After Alex ran inside, she pressed the ground floor button. When the elevator was finally going, she searched through her contacts and dialed Owen's number. He picked up after two rings.

She didn't even have to say anything. Owen knew she wouldn't call in the middle of the night if something wasn't terribly wrong. "Cristina?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes," Meredith confirmed and looked over at Cristina in Alex's arms. She was having hiccups from the crying she was holding back.

"I'm on my way. I'll call you when I'll get off the plane," Owen said and ended the call, without demanding any details.

Meredith put the phone back into her pocket. "He'll catch the next plane from Seattle. He'll probably be here in two hours and something."

Cristina mumbled something incoherent into Alex's chest.

"I'm sorry, Cristina. You need to speak louder." Mer reached out to her to gently stroke her hair.

"He's taking a plane?" Cristina repeated herself, this time more clearly.

"He would have to drive over twelve hours straight," Meredith pointed out what she was pretty sure Cristina knew anyway.

The elevator finally arrived to the ground floor. Meredith ran out first, heading towards the paramedics, who were just coming through the front door.

Alex quickly caught up on Mer, so they met the paramedics together. He carefully placed Cristina on the gurney they wheeled in.

While Meredith was running down Cristina's details, Alex kept holding her hand. She squeezed it tightly, not willing to let go.

Not even fifteen minutes later, Cristina was sitting on the exam table in one of San Francisco's doctor's office after an ultrasound. Meredith and Alex were standing on either sides of her, each holding one of her hands.

Meredith looked towards the doctor, who was sitting at her desk, writing something down in Cristina's chart. "So.. Will you tell us what went wrong?"

The doctor turned around on her chair to face them. "All three of you are doctors. So I think it's not necessary to explain what marginal placenta previa is." The doctor got up from the chair and walked closer to them. "But now, Dr. Yang is my patient, thus I still need to run it down for her." She looked Cristina in the eyes. "The placenta is covering a part of your cervical opening. However, there's no need to panic. You're in your 21st week, it's likely that your condition will change as your pregnancy will progress. The placenta will sort of migrate farther from the cervical opening and it will no longer be a problem."

Cristina felt herself relax a little as she felt Meredith encouragingly squeezed her hand. She didn't need anyone to explain her what her condition meant. "So.. What now? Bed rest? See, I'm supposed to take my fifth year resident boards in a couple of hours, I sort of can't stay here."

"Due to the amount of your bleeding, bed rest in a hospital is not necessary. You should sit and walk as little as possible, but you don't have to stay here. You're gonna be on a bed rest at home. Your.." The doctor looked over the three of them and her gaze stopped on Meredith's and then Cristina's wedding rings. "Wife can take you home."

Cristina looked over at Meredith and laughed. "Oh, no. She's not my wife, just a friend."

The doctor's cheeks turned red. "I'm so sorry. Then your husband.." She nodded towards Alex.

Now it was Alex's turn to laugh. "Look, doctor. We are not related, we are just good friends. Her husband is on his way here. The two of us.. We are moral support."

Before the doctor got to say something, Cristina spoke up. "So.. What about the boards?"

The doctor took a deep breath. "If I remember it correctly, the boards are three thirty minutes sessions with ten minutes long breaks between them.. As long as you'll be able to lie down for at least those breaks and then right after the boards are over, I suppose there shouldn't be a problem. You need to rest as much as possible for at least next week."

"Just a week and then I can get back to work?" Cristina asked, not allowing herself too much hope.

"Your baby will develop a lot over the week. There's a chance your condition will get better. I'll send your chart over to Seattle, you'll get checked out in a week and then, you'll see."

Cristina felt immediate relief. Her baby was okay, she was okay and maybe, just maybe, she'll go back to work in a week. She will have all the bed rest for that week. Owen wouldn't even allow otherwise. "Thank you."

It wasn't until five in the morning when they finally heard a knock on the door of Alex's room.

Meredith, who was hooked up on an IV and was wearing a surgical mask, got up from the bed and walked to the door. Owen called her fifteen minutes ago to ask her where they are. She told him they left the hospital shortly after they got there and now they're, all three, in one bed, with Cristina in the middle. Then, she told him the number of the room and hung up.

Now, after she opened the door, Owen completely ignored her and ran right past her to Cristina, who was resting her head on Alex's shoulder. Alex was asleep, not for much longer though.

Owen resumed Mer's former place next to Cristina and before saying anything, he pulled her into his arms.

She buried her face into his shoulder and held onto him as tight as she could. After so many hours of holding everything in, she could finally let all the pressure out.

He picked her up from the bed, holding her close. "We'll go.. Thank you, for everything," he said towards Meredith and Alex.

"Don't mention it," Meredith whispered and sat down on the bed. The sheets were clean, the room service changed them while they were gone in the hospital.

"Which room is Cristina's?" Owen asked, quietly, not to disturb Alex, who was trying to fall back asleep.

Meredith yawned and covered herself with the blanket. "It's the one right across the hall."

Owen nodded and with Cristina still in his arms, walked out of the room and closed the door behind them.

Not even a minute later, Owen laid Cristina down on her bed and sat down next to her. Cristina wiped the tears with the back of her hand and tried to form a smile. "We're.. We're okay, Owen."

"I have no idea what happened.. Meredith called and I jumped on the first plane to San Francisco. There was no time for questions," Owen said and laid down next to Cristina, embracing her with both arms with his head on her chest.

So Cristina told him the story. She began with how she couldn't fall asleep, and ended right before his arrival to Alex's room. When she was finished, the sun was already up and shining through the curtains into the hotel room.

"Bed rest, huh?" Owen softly smiled. That's gonna be one hell of a week.

Cristina caught his smile and lightly smacked his shoulder. "Don't even try to mock me! Bed rest is hell!"

He planted a kiss into her cleavage. "I'm not mocking you. Do you want me to take a leave of absence with you?"

She shook her head. "No. At least one of us has to go to work. You'll tell me about all the good cases I'm missing. Actually, no. You'll shut up about the good cases and tell me only about the bad, boring ones."

Owen looked her in the eyes. "Agreed." He let her pit of his embrace and sat up next to her. "It's time for you to get ready for the boards." Cristina's face suddenly turned doubtful. "Don't worry, you'll rock the boards."

Cristina tried to sit up too, but Owen didn't let her. "I slept for like two hours. I have ugly bloodshot eyes and greasy hair. I'm just pure confidence on its highest."

"You'll wear a bun. It'll make your hair look better, plus I really like-"

"-the back of my neck," she completed his sentence. "I know." She pointed at her suitcase. "I have a cosmetic bag in there and my clothes for today. Can you hand it to me?"


	7. Things That Matter

**A/N: This chapter is more like a bridge. But I tried to make it interesting and I also dropped some hints about things to come. Enjoy and if you like this chapter, please leave a review:)**

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"I'm sorry, sir. Are you waiting to be called in?"

Owen was torn away from his thoughts by a young woman who just walked out of the door on his right. "No. I'm just.." He looked up at her from the chair he was sitting on. "Being here."

Her expression changed to a more strict one. "Well, you can't be here. Surgical residents from all over the country are taking their-"

He stood up. "I know that. I'm here to watch over my wife. She is five months pregnant and she was bleeding this morning. I just want to be around."

"Is she okay?" The woman's face melted a bit.

"Marginal placenta previa. She will be fine," Owen tried to smile before he sat back down on the chair. "Do you have any problem with me staying here?"

"Under the given circumstances, no." The woman opened the door she walked out of again. "You can stay."

"I've spent a lot of time in Iraq as an army surgeon. I've seen many terrible things. But now, when my wife is pregnant.. I have never been as terrified as I'm now," Owen admitted, looking at the ground. Then his eyes met the woman's. "You know that feeling?"

Before she disappeared behind the closing door, he heard her say, "No."

After she left, he leaned against the wall behind him. He's been just sitting her for almost one and half an hour now. And while he was sitting there, Cristina was not so far away, behind one of the door, working it through the last session of the boards.

She almost had to fight him to persuade him she can walk to the boards on her own two feet. He, personally, wanted to carry her there. When her first session was over, Owen made her lie down on the chairs in the hallway. She protested, of course, but after he threatened her with carrying her to bed, boards or not, she did lie down. The break after the second session was exactly the same. They didn't talk much, barely a sentence or two. He just stroked her hair and said some words of encouragement from time to time.

It seemed like eternity has passed when he finally heard some of the door open. Unfortunately, it wasn't Cristina. It was April. Owen looked at her, trying to read her face, but she avoided looking back at him. Her glance was turned to the ground as she walked past him. He shook his head and got back to waiting for Cristina, praying for nothing bad to happen.

Another half an hour had passed, when, with a successful expression, Cristina came out of the door. She was smiling and made her way through the hallway right to Owen, who was standing now, and hugged him.

"Did it go well?" he asked, his voice muffled by her hair.

"Uh huh." Cristina broke the embrace and took a step back to put more distance between them. "I think it went better than expected. But I'm really not a big fan of the boards." She smiled again. "We'll wait for Mer and then we can go home."

Before she could finish the sentence, Meredith joined them. "That was hell."

"Agreed." Cristina took Owen's hand in hers. "Let's pick up our stuff and get ready to go back to Seattle."

The three of them started walking towards Meredith's and Cristina's rooms. "We'll spend over twelve hours on the bus. It's likely you'll have the results of your boards by the time we arrive to Seattle," Owen said, squeezing Cristina's hand.

"You don't have to sit with us on the bus. You can take a plane again," Cristina suggested.

Owen gazed at her, almost looking offended. "That's not going to happen, Cristina. I want to watch over you, just in case.."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Why did everything turn so damn complicated? "Yea, just in case."

The ride back to Seattle was long and exhausting. When the bus pulled over at the SGMW hospital's ambulance bay, Cristina, who was resting her head on Owen's shoulder, let out a sigh of relief.

Owen gently planted a kiss in her hair before he stood up to get her suitcase and get off the bus.

The first thing Cristina did after she got out of the bus and stretched, was checking her mail. Meredith, Jackson, Alex and April all followed her example. Owen was standing next to her, an arm around her waist.

"It's not loading," Cristina complained nervously. She was feeling great about the boards, but what if..?

"Ha!" Alex screamed. "I got it! I passed!"

Meredith's enthusiastic voice soon joined him. "I did too! We got it Alex!" The two hugged.

"Yes! Oh Jesus!" It was April's voice to accompany Meredith and Alex in cheering.

Cristina was nervous more and more with every passing second. Owen leaned over her shoulder and whispered, "It'll be okay, Cristine. You kicked ass."

She could barely hear him over Jackson, who passed as well. She was already losing hope in ever finding out her results, when her mailbox finally loaded. She opened the first mail and the weight of the world fell off her shoulders.

"I did it!" she yelled out in joy and threw her arms around Owen's neck. He picked her up and spun her around. "I made it!"

Owen put her down and she ran right into Meredith's hug. The twisted sisters were both screaming at each other in joy, laughing. Owen was looking at them and smiled. He loved seeing Cristina so happy.

They got to the firehouse in the middle of the night. Cristina was supposed to be on bed rest for the next week, but Owen had to work in the morning, so they went straight to bed.

"I feel great," Cristina whispered while Owen was pulling her into his embrace. She rested her head on his chest. "Maybe even more than that."

"You are great, babe." Owen was stroking her back with the tips of his fingers. He felt her relax under his touch.

Cristina lifted herself up to kiss him. "I know." She laid back down on his chest. "Will you come home early tomorrow?"

"Of course. I'll buy you some ice cream and onion chips on my way from the hospital. Deal?"

"Deal." She was already afraid how she's going too handle the bed rest. She had to remind herself she's doing it for her daughter all the time. It helped. "And Owen?"

"Yes?" He was already falling asleep.

"We should think about a name. For our little girl." Cristina didn't give baby names much thought so far. But baby has to have a name.

He brought his hand closer to her belly. It was a long time since he last felt the baby. "Yeah. There's still enough time."

Then a sudden realization hit Cristina. "Did you tell your mother? That we're having a baby?"

"Cristina, it's two in the morning. It's kind of late to have this kind of a conversation. But I didn't. I was waiting till you come up with it," he admitted, yawning. "You did not tell yours, did you?"

"No." She was quiet for a while and then sighed.

"What?" Owen asked her. "Cristina? You can call your mom right now if-"

Cristina turned around on her other side, away from him. "I don't want to call my mother," she breathed out and buried her face into the pillow.

Owen sat up and placed his hands on his wife's shoulders. "What happened?"

She started sobbing. "Today I- I was afraid I'm losing my baby. No, not afraid. Terrified.. A-and I.. I don't ever want to feel like that again, Owen.." She slowly turned around and sat up to face Owen. Tears were streaming down her face. "I want my dad."

Owen wrapped his arms around her. "Shh, Cristine.."

She was trying to control her breath. "Let's sleep, sweetheart."

He took the opportunity to try to cheer her up. "Sweetheart?" he smiled at her while laying her down and leaning over her.

She smiled back. "Yeah."

"You're my sweetheart, too."

"And you're mine.. Honey."

"Baby boo." Owen could see her lighten up a little in the darkness of the firehouse.

"Sugar pie."

"Smoochie."

"Peanut."

Owen started laughing. "Why are all your pet nicknames about food?"

Cristina wiped away the last of her tears with the back of her hand. Her adorable husband never failed to cheer her up. "I just want to eat you."

He kissed her on the cheek and laid down next to her.

After a moment of silence, Cristina said, "Owen, can you hold me?"

He took a deep breath and planted another kiss on her cheek. "You never have to ask."

Owen spooned behind her and wrapped his arms around her little body. Her breath slowed down and became steadier as she fell asleep in his arms in no time. And before Owen fell asleep, the last thing on his mind was how will she be doing after the first day of bed rest. Hopefully, she'll be okay.


	8. Farewell

**A/N: This is the end of the beginning of this story. From the next chapter, I'll finally get to the original idea I wanted to work with. I'm sorry if this chapter is kind of rushed. But I'll be really happy if you leave a review!**

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Beep. Beep. Beep.

Owen shut the alarm clock down and then wrapped his arms around Cristina again, kissing her shoulder.

She didn't move an inch, just murmured something incoherent.

He kissed her neck through her hair. "Cristine?"

Cristina turned around to face Owen, her curls hitting him him the face in the process. "I already hate this."

Owen laughed. "Good morning, sunshine."

"I want to go to the hospital too," she grumbled like a pouting kid. "I mean, what am I supposed to do here?!"

Owen sat up on the bed, kicking the blanket off. "Watch some TV. Read something. Eat. Whatever you feel like doing. I can carry you to the couch before I leave if you want."

"Bed rest blows," Cristina stated, laying on her back, drawing circles on the belly with her fingertips.

In the meantime, Owen already got dressed and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Cristina could hear the sound of the running water.

She sat up on the bed and put on her robe. Actually, Owen's robe. So much of his was now hers and vice versa. Slowly, she tiptoed behind Owen into the bathroom and sat down on the closed toilet.

Owen tried to say something, but only caused the toothpaste to drip on his tie. He spit it out. "Damn it. I have to get a clean tie. What are you doing out of bed?"

She walked behind him as he went back to the bedroom to get a new tie out of the wardrobe. "I don't want to be here alone."

He threw the dirty tie away and struggled with the clean one he picked. "It's just a week, Cristina. You're doing it for the baby. I'll try to get you some cool surgery as a welcome back gift if you'll be okay on the checkup in a week." He finished adjusting his tie and walked over to Cristina to give her a peck on the lips. "Okay?"

"Yeah," she replied and sat down on the bed. "Come home soon!"

"I will." He picked up his phone from the nightstand and checked the time. "I have to go. Boring meeting ahead. I love you!" His voice lingered in the silence of the firehouse even after he was gone.

Cristina sat still on the bed for a little while. "I love you too," she whispered as she stood up to move to the couch.

Later that day, when Cristina was working on something on her laptop, Owen walked up the stairs to the firehouse. "Hey you." He got rid of his jacket and all the stuff he was carrying and sat down on the edge of the couch next to her. "What were you up to all day?" He quickly noticed she never changed from his robe, all she did was that she pulled her hair up in a bun.

"Research." Her eyes were glued to the screen.

"About?"Owen asked, curious. He knew she wouldn't be able too stay away from medicine.

Cristina tore her eyes from the laptop and looked at her husband. "Baby names."

That surprised him. "Did you just say baby names?"

She let his comment slide by. "I picked a few ones I like, looked up the meanings and put it all together in Word. The final decision," she lifted the laptop off her thighs and gave it to Owen, "is up to you."

"Cristina.. This kind of looks like some medical paper." Next to every one of the names, there was a meaning, a famous person with that name and some more things about the name.. Origin, nicknames..

She was laying on the couch with her hands on her belly. "Her name could affect her entire future!"

Owen scanned the names on the list. They were all really pretty, Cristina had a good taste. "I really like Amanda."

"You're still at A?"

He scrolled down the list. "How many names are there?"

"I don't know.. Twenty, I think." That day, Cristina began just with writing the names. Then, she added meanings. And then it just all went down with that.

"Sandra." Owen stopped at that name. "I love Sandra."

"Helper of humanity," Cristina said right away.

Owen gave her a strange look. "You memorized it all?!"

Cristina cringed. "I was bored."

He laughed. Of course she was. He was actually surprised she didn't write down more names just to kill some time.

"So.. Sandra it is..?" Cristina took the laptop back from him. "You decided quickly."

"Overthinking is not good either." Owen stood up and headed to the bedroom. "Cristina?"

"Yeah honey?" Her eyes were back on the screen.

"Would you mind if I call my mother and ask her if we can come over for a lunch?" Owen suggested. He wanted to tell his mother about her granddaughter in person.

She smiled, briefly looking him in the eyes. "Not at all."

* * *

The week passed by quickly. Cristina was killing her time by online shopping and watching surgeries on the internet. Owen was coming home early every day and leaving late every morning. When he was home, they watched TV together, talked about the hospital and when they'll start moving to the new house. Cristina was actually pleasantly surprised when the time of her check up came. And when she heard she was okay and she can go back to work, she was thrilled.

"Yes!" she screamed in the hallway in from of her OB's office, throwing her arms around Owen.

He hugged her tight. "I have a surprise for you," he whispered quietly in her hair.

"What is it? I can't wait," Cristina said impatiently, longing to know what he prepared for her. "Is Mer part of it? I haven't seen her today."

"She kind of is." Owen nodded, smiling. "It's a conjoined twins surgery." Cristina's face lit up right away. "You're going with Meredith, Derek, Alex and few more people. It's in Boise."

Cristina hugged him tighter, almost crying because of how happy she was. She I did indeed have the best husband on the planet. "Thank you."

"Not so fast.. You're leaving in two hours. I've already cleared it with Holland, but you need to pack some things to change into after the surgery. And change into your scrubs." Cristina was waiting for more info to come. "Go! Get ready. I'll meet you in the main lobby before you go."

She kissed him on the cheek and then ran away. He watched her disappear in the hospital hallways and shook is head. She could go from a mother to be to a kickass surgeon in a matter of seconds. He loved that.

Two hours and something later, Cristina was sitting across the alley from Meredith and Derek and behind Arizona, who replaced Alex. Somewhere on the plane were also Mark and Lexie. They were on their way to Boise. She loved Owen for pulling the strings so she could go. Her huge surprise.

"So you haven't decided yet?" She was discussing Mer's fellowship with her.

"I probably have. I want to stay in Seattle. I mean, you're staying."

"I'm staying because I have to." That wasn't a complete truth. Cristina didn't want to leave Seattle at all. "You don't have to stay because of me."

Meredith smiled at her. But before she could answer, the lights in the plane went out.

They heard Lexie say, "What is happening?"

The next thing they heard was a really, really bad noise from the side of the plane. They couldn't see each other, but panic floated through the air.

Cristina had closed her eyes and focused on her breath. She felt that they were quickly crashing down. The last thought to float through her head was how much she loved Owen.

Then she heard a scream, a loud crash and then it all just went dark.


	9. Impossible

**A/N ****Okay.. I hope you'll like this chapter and I'll be really happy if you leave a review!:)**

* * *

"..so I signed the contract and we can start moving in," Owen proudly said to Teddy, with whom he's been video chatting for the past ten minutes. It was ten thirty pm in Seattle, which made it eight thirty am in Baghdad.

"Did you tell her?" Teddy asked, mischievous smile on her face.

Owen grinned. "No, not yet. Today's the big comeback surprise day. She's already on the plane to Boise, I'm gonna tell her when she comes back tomorrow."

"And how's the baby?"

"Good, good.. Both Cristina and the baby are okay," he assured her. "Actually, we picked a name for her."

"Really? Cristina was willing to discuss baby names?" It was an unbelievable imagination for Teddy.

"Actually, she did a baby names research while she was on the bed rest."

"So, what's gonna be your girl's name?" Teddy leaned closer to her computer.

"Sandra," he confessed happily. "I really like it and Cristina agreed. And the middle name's going to be after my mom, so Sandra Laurie Yang Hunt."

"That's so sweet, Owen. I'm so happy for you two. Well, three. Cristina's come a long way from wanting to trade you."

Owen laughed. "She did. If you could see her now, you probably wouldn't believe what you're seeing. I mean, she's still a spectacular surgeon, but also an amazing mother-to-be."

There was a short moment of silence between the two of them, previous words just floating through the air. Then Teddy looked straight in the webcam. "I can't come back, Owen. Maybe in a month, I'll tell you something else, but now I have to stay."

"It's okay. I get it, Teddy. It's up to you."

She smiled softly. "Thanks." She got up from the chair she was sitting on while talking to him. "So, I got to go. Call me soon?"

"Sure." He waved his hand goodbye. "Bye."

"Bye," she said and the screen faded black.

Owen turned his laptop off. He was done with the work for tonight.

Shortly after ending his call with Teddy, Owen got in his truck and drove to the firehouse. It's been a long day, so his plan was to go straight to bed.

He got into the shower, brushed his teeth and then went to get a glass of water. He passed by the fridge with a collection of ultrasound images, newly labeled 'Sandra's first ultrasound', '5 months' and et cetera. He poured himself a glass of water and walked to the bedroom. The entire firehouse felt so empty and quiet. Owen couldn't wait for Cristina to come back.

He sat down on Cristina's side of the bed, placing the glass of water next to the book she's been reading. Some medical journal, left carelessly open on the page she stopped reading at last night, when she was too tired to force her eyes open. He had to smile at the memory of her yawning, putting the book down and wrapping her arms around him right away, thinking he was asleep. If she knew he wasn't, she'd definitely ask him to hold her, rather than cling to him. But he did hold her anyway.

It was strange to be alone in their bed. Owen turned the lights off and covered himself with the blanket. Just as she liked to sleep in his t-shirts when he wasn't home, he loved to sleep on her side of the bed on the same occasion. He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. The last thought on his mind before he fell asleep was how, ironically, Cristina smelled like flowers. A flowery aroma for a non-flowery woman.

He slept through most of the night, only to be woken up around four am by the beeping of his pager. He switched the lamp on and looked at the pager. 911. He quickly threw on some clothes and got on the way to the hospital.

Five minutes later, Owen was pulling over at the hospital's parking lot. He jumped out of the truck, slamming the door closed behind him and ran straight to the main entrance. That's where he was paged.

Inside, his glance fell on a rather small group of people. Karev. Torres. Avery. Kepner. Them and few more, probably those who were on call, were standing in front of Webber and Bailey. He figured that he should join them and made his way to Torres. "What's going on?"

She shrugged. "Nobody knows yet. We were waiting for you, Webber's about to tell us."

"People! Calm down." Richard's voice echoed through the almost empty main lobby. "Half an hour ago, an important message came to hospital's notice. The chief of staff from Boise Memorial Hospital informed us that our surgeon's, Shepherd, Grey, Yang, Robbins, Grey and Sloan's plane never arrived." Owen's heart skipped a beat. "There's been a plane crash. We don't know anything about the plane's location, but the mountain surgical rescue is working on it. Please, everyone close to the victims of the plane crash, don't leave the hospital. We will keep you updated."

The small crowd around Owen, one by one, was overtaken by panic. There was crying, gasping for breath, expressions of disbelief.

Owen, however, turned around to find the nearest trashcan a promptly threw up. And then again. He felt someone's hand patting him on the back. Then that someone handed him a paper tissue. He took it, cleaned his mouth and then stood up to see who it was, just to see Kepner with tears streaming down her face.

Her hand was still on his shoulder. He saw everyone around him crying, burying their face in their hands.

_She's dead._ That's what was floating through his head. All over and over again. _She's dead._ Then he corrected himself. _They're dead._ His wife and his daughter are both dead.

No sign of the plane anywhere. They can't be alive.

Where did all those moments of pure happiness go? It was like one moment, he was a husband, a father. Then he blinked and suddenly he didn't have anything.

Owen heard someone, maybe Avery, saying that there's still hope. His raw laughter suddenly filled the silence of the main lobby, but nobody looked at him. Hope? There was no hope. No miracles and there certainly was no God, because what kind of God would let something like this happen?

He dug his fingers into Kepner's arm. He saw the painful expression on her face, but he didn't let go. Instead, he let himself fall into her embrace and allowed the tears he's been holding in to find a way down his cheeks. His pain was silent, he didn't make a sound while crying. It's silent, yet everyone could hear.

Everyone can hear the pain of a man who just died inside.

_Tell them all I know now_

_Shout it from the roof tops_

_Write it on the sky line_

_All we had is gone now_

_Tell them I was happy_

_And my heart is broken_

_All my scars are open_

_Tell them what I hoped would be_

_Impossible, impossible_


	10. All I Need

**A/N: Let me know what you think:)**

* * *

"I can't feel her, Arizona. It's been longer than two hours."

Arizona pushed herself up into sitting position. "Are you sure? Nothing at all?"

"Sometimes.." Cristina tried to speak louder but her exhausted voice was failing her. "Sometimes I can feel something like a flutter. But she never kicks."

"A flutter counts too.. How many then?"

Cristina shifted a bit and adjusted the jacket she's been using as a pillow while trying to count how many movements of her baby she felt during the past two hours. "Six." She had no idea why she was doing it. The counting. It wasn't like they could do anything about her baby moving less than she should. Maybe the reason was to keep her mind awake, maybe it was just a distraction, a way to kill the time until, hopefully, the rescue comes.

Though she way lying on the ground, she could see Arizona shake her head in helplessness and mutter, "It should be at least ten.. You know what? Maybe it hasn't been two hours yet."

Cristina looked at Meredith and Derek sleeping next to her. Even when everything was falling apart, at least they were together. Panic found it's way to her. "No," she said, shaking. "It's been at least two hours. And she hasn't been kicking much since we crashed." She stopped talking for a brief moment and then lowered her voice down to almost a whisper. "My baby is dead."

* * *

"Hunt! Dr. Hunt, wake up!"

Webber's voice pulled him out of a pleasant dream. He didn't remember what the dream was about, he just knew that Cristina was in it, and that was enough for it to be pleasant.

Richard was looking down at him with pity in his eyes. He probably looked awful. He hasn't slept properly in days, his beard was out of control and the first thing everybody noticed while looking at him were his bloodshot eyes, caused by sleep deprivation and despair. He's already lost all hope.

The first two days, he actually believed that some miracle will happen and they will find them all and alive. The third day, Owen yelled at everyone from mountain surgical rescue and called them a group of incompetent idiots. Now, the fourth day, he just tried to sleep. Sleep through it all. Sleep and never wake up. Because he put her on that plane.

Owen sat up on the couch in his office and looked Webber in the eyes. "What?" he asked in a low voice.

"We got the location," Webber said. "Mountain surgical rescue is on the way to the crashsite, they will transport the victims to Seattle Grace Mercy West within a couple of hours. Their chopper is taking off the heliport in ten minutes."

Owen was already on his way out of the door. "I'm going with them to the crashsite."

"Wait, Hunt-" Webber shouted at him, but he was already gone.

Two and a half an hour later, the pilot of the chopper Owen was in checked the GPS and said, "We're getting close. Prepare yourselves, things may not be pretty."

Owen took a deep breath. For all that they knew, this wasn't a type of crash that's kind to the plane's passengers. What if all they'll find will be.. pieces? Body parts, covered in blood, scattered all around the forest. Now, he understood why Webber tried to stop him from going to the crashsite. And what if everyone's alive but Cristina? How could he possibly be happy for them? See their reunited families and smile and congratulate them. How could he go on living with constant feeling that he would exchange all their lives for Cristina's without a second thought?

The pilot's voice echoed in his headphones again. "That's it. We're landing."

The nauseous feeling he's been experiencing since he got on the chopper grew. Owen didn't wait until the chopper landed properly, tore the headphones off his head and jumped out of the chopper.

It looked like an apocalypse to him. He quickly looked over the nearest area, but saw no one.

"Cristina!" he called out her name in despair. "Cristina!"

With tears streaming down his face, he ran further into the forest, looking for a sign, for a hint that she's alive. He wanted to hold her in his arms and never let go, but he couldn't, because he was lost and she was just gone.

Like a bad before the worst, like a calm before the storm, he reached another part of the plane. The part that trapped Lexie Grey under its weight.

He stopped in his track for a second, to silently honor her lost life, but the urge to find his Cristina was pushing him forward.

"Cristina!" he cried again into the silence of the calm and peaceful forest, only his voice disturbing its quiet melody. He knew that the others from the chopper are searching through the forest now too, not so far behind him.

He jumped over a fallen tree and ran further and further, until he saw another part of the plane in front of him. He blinked away tears from his eyes and, pushing his limits, ran faster than ever before. With the last of his breath, he shouted, once more, "Cristina!"

He saw a movement. Owen smiled through the tears and got over the short distance that separated him from her. As he was arriving to the center of the crashsite, he was, with every fiber in his body, wishing that it was Cristina whom he saw moving.

He heard the surgical rescue running behind him as his gaze fell on a silhouette with too much familiar ebony curls laying on the ground, covered with several layers of clothes as a blanket. In a full speed, he kneeled down on the ground next to Cristina and pulled her into his embrace, regardless to everything and everyone else. She was the only reason why he wanted to come with the surgical rescue. Not any act of heroism. Just she.

He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair, crying. "I love you," he whispered softly. "I love you, Cristine.. I love you.."

Owen felt her shaking in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. He was stroking her hair with one hand and holding her close with the other. They stayed in that position for a little longer, until he picked her up in his arms and she snuggled up close to his chest, feeling shielded and safe again after a long time.

The surgical rescue around them was working on the other victims. "Are you injured, Cristina?" Owen carefully asked her. "Does anything hurt you?"

She mumbled something incoherently against his chest.

"Speak up, honey," he exhorted her, later wishing he hadn't.

Cristina repeated herself. "Our baby is dead."

"W-what?" Owen stammered. It felt like someone just ripped his heart out of his chest. "No.. She's not.. She can't be.." He turned around, with Cristina still in his arms. "We have to get her to the hospital as soon as possible! Six months pregnant, not feeling the baby moving!" Without saying anything else, he started to make his way back to the chopper, whispering sweet nothings to Cristina all the time.

* * *

They arrived to SGMW with the first chopper, along with Meredith and Derek. At the heliport, Owen gently laid Cristina down on a gurney, not letting go of her hand. He tried to keep it together, but the feeling that everything was falling apart was constant.

Bailey joined him and held Cristina's gurney on the opposite side. After they got out of the elevator, Bailey rushed them through the corridors to an exam room. Owen was still holding Cristina's hand.

She looked up at him. "I'm scared," she whispered.

Owen squeezed her hand. "You're safe, Cristina. You're here with me, no one can hurt you now, okay?" He softly smiled.

Cristina smiled back at him, one hand in his, the other on her belly. "Okay," she breathed out. Then, her eyes weakly shut close and her chest stopped rising up and down.

"No!" Owen stopped the gurney and tried to start CPR, but Bailey pushed him aside, though he still didn't let go of Cristina's hand.

He heard Bailey shout, "Code blue!"

Owen never left Cristina's side. "No, honey, you're okay. Breathe, just breathe. Open your eyes! Come back!" Tears were running down his cheeks. "It's okay. It's over now. Wake up! Please wake up!"

"Clear!" someone close to him called out. He had to let go of her hand.

As soon as he could, he took her hand in his again. "Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me! I love you so much! Come back!"

_If everything we've got is slipping away_  
_I meant what I said when I said until my dying day_  
_I'm holding on to you, holding on to me_  
_Maybe it's all gone black but you're all I see_  
_You're all I see_

_Mat Kearney - All I Need_


	11. Before The Worst

**A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to update.. Anyway, it'd mean the world to me if you'd leave a review.**

* * *

"Dr. Hunt?" A nurse gently touched his shoulder.

He didn't move an inch. His face was still buried in his hands while he was sitting on a seat in one of the hospital's waiting rooms.

"Dr. Hunt? Are you.. Are you okay?"

Owen looked up at her. "Tell me.." He took a moment to read her name tag. "Tell me, Kim, do I look okay?" His voice was breaking.

The nurse shook her head and took a step back.

"Well, then don't freaking ask!" he yelled at her. "Leave me alone! Go!"

Kim ran away and Owen hid his face in his hands again. He was sitting there for a couple of hours, at least. Several people approached him to ask how he was feeling. No one got an answer out of him. Owen just continued.. Waiting. But for what, when everything was finished?

"Owen." Meredith's voice made him look up. He smiled. The last resource they had to try to make him function. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"I'm not sure about anything anymore." He sat up and leaned against the back of the seat.

Meredith's eyes found his. "Everyone will understand if you say that.. That you can't handle it." She was stumbling upon her words.

"There's not any other option, Meredith. We both know they tried everything. And nothing works."

She enlaced her fingers with Owen's and tried to form a smile. "I know."

When they saw Richard Webber approaching, Owen stood up. "Dr. Webber?"

Richard took a deep breath. "Have you made a decision, Dr. Hunt?"

"I have," Owen said, struggling with words. "Let's do it."

Meredith got up from her seat as well and the three of them made their way to the nearest patient room. Webber opened the door for both Owen and Meredith and entered the room after them.

The figure on the bed could be easily mistaken for a person who was asleep. Messy ebony curls all over the pillow, hands calmly resting by the sides of her body, eyes closed, pale skin.

Owen made his way closer to the bed, sat down on it's edge and took Cristina's motionless, cold hand in his. "Cristine? Honey? Can you open your eyes for me?"

Her eyelids fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes.

Owen formed a gentle smile on his lips. "Good. I have some news for you."

Meredith and Richard were quietly standing by the door, watching the painful scene going in front of them.

"We're going home," Owen said, squeezing her hand. "Okay? I will get you dressed and we will go home together."

For the first time since the plane crash, Cristina smiled back at him. She softly squeezed his hand back, but didn't make a sound. That's how their communication looked now.

Richard coughed. "I have the discharge papers here. You can sign them right now if you want to." He made few steps towards Owen and handed him the papers along with a pen.

Owen signed them right away. "You can go. I will handle it."

"Give me a call if you need. Anytime," Meredith said before she followed Richard and left the room.

Owen turned his attention back to Cristina. "So, let's go home."

* * *

He sat Cristina down on their bed in the firehouse. She was staring right in front of her, empty look in her eyes.

Owen was looking through the wardrobe for a clean towel. Once he found one, he handed it to Cristina. "Here you go. We're going to the bathroom now, yes?" _Calm down, Owen, you can handle this! _

He was getting ready to pick her up and carry her to the bathroom, when the sudden sound of her voice caught him off guard. "You did the laundry?"

Owen sighed. Everything was so different after the plane crash.. When they brought her to the hospital, he thought that the worst part was behind them. But then her organism collapsed and she coded. And everything just went downhill from there.. 'You did the laundry?' was the first thing she said after the plane crash, apart from 'Our baby is dead.' She was just a shell. She was not herself. "I always do the laundry, Cristina. You don't have to thank me." He picked her up in his arms and took her to the bathroom.

Her legs were still weak, so he had to support her body while carefully undressing her. When he was taking off her shirt, his palm brushed against the belly and he felt the baby kick softly. "She kicked. Sandra kicked."

Cristina didn't even look at him. She still didn't believe anyone who was saying that their baby was alright. Every time he mentioned the baby so far, she broke into tears. But not this time. That was a progress.

Half an hour later, when she was ready to get out of the bathtub, Owen asked her: "Do you need me to help you?" No reaction. "Cristina?"

Her small frame started shaking. She began to sob uncontrollably.

"It's okay," Owen whispered. "You can cry." He bent down, dove his hands into the warm water and scooped Cristina in his arms. His shirt soaked wet right away.

Owen placed her back on her own two feet and let her use him as a support and reached for the towel.

When he was sure she was all dry, he dried her tears with the towel too and placed a kiss on her cheek. Then, still holding her around the waist with one arm, he grabbed her favorite body lotion off of the sink. "This is the one you like, right?"

All he got was a barely noticeable nod.

"Okay then." He squeezed some of it onto his hand and started applying it from her collarbone all over her body. Cristina flinched under his touch. Before the plane crash, she never did that. He gently lathered the lotion on her skin, thinking of it as more of a necessity, than an act of foreplay, which it could have been if it weren't for the damned plane crash.

It didn't take him long to finish with the body lotion. He carried her back to their bedroom and laid her down on the bed with an intention of finding her something she could wear to bed. He opened one of the drawers with Cristina's clothes. He looked through it. "What do you want to wear to bed, Cristina?" he tried to ask her, hoping that maybe, just maybe, she will answer him.

When she didn't, he turned around with one of his shirts. "What about-" He didn't get to finish the sentence. He quickly noticed she was asleep.

He put his shirt back and walked back to the bed to take care of her. The first thing he did was to cover her with the blanket, because she was completely naked, and Owen did not want her to get sick.

He watched her sleep for a while, thinking if he should sleep on the couch and leave her some space. He almost instantly realized that it would only make her feel worse.

Owen stripped down his clothes and spooned behind Cristina under the blanket, his skin touching hers. His side of the bed was untouched, they were laying on her side. Owen wrapped her arms around her as close as he could, as if he was trying to make up for all those nights in the woods.

He sighed as a traitorous thought came to his mind. This was his life now.

_We were thinking we would never be apart_  
_With your name tattooed across my heart_  
_Oh, who would have thought it would end up like this?_

_The Script - Before The Worst_


	12. Comes And Goes (In Waves)

**A/N: I hope you'll like this chapter. I will love you if you leave a review!**

* * *

"See? This. Right here, this is going to be a nursery. There's another room, that looks just the same, I think we could turn it into a guest room. What do you think?" Owen shifted a bit on the bed and moved closer to Cristina with the laptop on his lap.

"It's pretty," Cristina whispered after a while.

Owen smiled. It's been a week since he took her home from the hospital. She slowly started to talk again, just few words at a time, but it was something. He took a leave of absence to take care of her and pack the firehouse into brown carton boxes, just ready to move. "I like it too. Any ideas on the nursery?"

Cristina was stroking the belly. Few days ago, she started talking about the baby, out of the blue. That made Owen glowing happy, because the entire conversation didn't involve either word 'dead' or 'died'. "No pink."

"I know," Owen nodded. "No gender stereotypes. I was thinking maybe.. Blue? Or green." He wrapped his right arm around Cristina's body and pulled her closer to him.

She was now resting her head on his shoulder. "White. White and.. A light wood."

Owen kissed the top of her head. "I love that." He sighed. She was doing better every day. He vividly remembered the first couple of days after he brought her home from the hospital. She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't talk. He had to practically feed her, wash her and rock her to sleep. She wouldn't fall asleep without him by her side. Not that the sleep thing was any better now. He had to hold her tight and not let go of her. And she had nightmares. Not the loud, scary ones, when she would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. The quiet ones, the ones when she'd lie motionless, covered in sweat, mouth opened in a silent scream, desperate to be saved.

But she was doing better with every day passing.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing. Owen got her a new one, because hers got destroyed in the plane crash. He helped her set it up and put in some photos. Cristina looked like she wasn't going to pick up the phone, so he reached out to the nightstand for it. It was Meredith.

Owen accepted the call. "Meredith, it's Owen."

Disappointment could be easily caught in Meredith's voice. "Will she talk to me?"

He shrugged. "You can try." Owen passed the phone to Cristina. "It's Meredith, sweetie."

Cristina took the phone from him. However, she didn't say anything to Meredith.

"Cristina? Are you there?" Meredith asked. "Please, talk to me."

Silence.

"I miss you. Do you want to come over and see Zola?" No such luck to get an answer out of Cristina. "Never mind.. I hope you're doing well. I'm worried about you. Should I-"

Cristina hang up on her and tossed the phone aside. She started tearing up and hid her face in her hands.

Owen put the laptop away and pulled Cristina onto his lap. "You should tell her to come over. She loves you."

Cristina continued sobbing. She was shaking in his arms. "I can't d-do this.."

"What?" Owen asked, stroking her back.

"I can't li-live here a-anymore," she confessed quietly. "Everyone's s-staring, ev-everyone's talking."

"We can-" Whatever Owen was about to say was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, followed by heavy footsteps on the stairs.

"Hunt? Cristina?" It was Alex's voice. "You here?"

Owen wiped Cristina's tears with the back of his hand and stood up from the bed to welcome Alex. "Over here, Karev!"

Alex walked through the empty living room. Everything, every single trinket, was packed in a labeled brown carton box. "Getting ready to move?"

Owen stretched out his hand and shook hands with Alex. "Yeah. We'll be living in the new house the day after tomorrow."

"Good for you," Alex said and sat down on the bed, close to Cristina. "How are you?"

Cristina gently touched his shoulder. "You didn't call."

"I just came over. I wanted to check on you." He handed her a box of chocolates. "And bring you something to light you up."

Owen sat down next to Cristina. "I'd offer you a cup of coffee Karev, but the machine is already packed. Do you want some water?"

"Yeah," Alex nodded and Owen got up again to fetch him a glass of water.

Cristina shifted closer to Alex. "Meredith called."

"Did you talk to her?" Cristina shook her head. "Do you want to?" She shrugged. "You should."

Cristina softly smiled. "You know who'd help in this situation?"

"No."

"Izzie. I miss her."

Alex pretended he's examining the fabric of Cristina's and Owen's sheets. "I miss her too."

"Maybe she married a good man in Tacoma," she suggested. "I bet she's happy."

"Yeah.."

Out of a sudden, Cristina laughed. "I just remembered.. Do you remember the time you gave George syphilis?"

Owen came back with the water for Alex. He handed the glass to him and resumed his former place next to Cristina. "Did I just hear you laugh?"

"She was laughing at my misery," Alex pointed out with a sarcastic smirk. "Go ahead, cheer up. I remember that time." Then his eyes lit up. "I also remember the time that Mama Burke shaved your eyebrows off."

That made Owen laugh. He heard that story a million times, not only from Cristina herself.

"So funny, Evil Spawn. Oh, what about the hot dog contest?!"

Hour later, when Alex was about to leave, Owen took him aside. "You made her laugh. She needed that."

Alex grinned. "You're welcome. I hope she'll be doing good." Without another word, he began to descend the stairs.

After Owen heard the sound of the main door closing, he headed back to the bedroom.

But he met Cristina halfway, with silent tears streaming down her face, outstretching her arms towards him. The short moment of blissful happiness was over. "Hold me."

"Come here." He took her in his arms and held her tight. Karev made her forget about the plane crash by the great memories they shared together. But what could he do? He had no amusing stories from Cristina's intern year, with which he could distract her.

"Owen, please.. Take me away."

He took a deep breath. "Where?"

"Away. Away from Seattle, please." She stepped back and looked him in the eyes. "I'm begging you. I want to leave."

Their dream house suddenly started to fade away. "Okay, honey. Okay." He embraced her again. "I will figure something out." He needed to call the real estate agent. "Everything will be okay." To say they're giving up the house.

"I'm begging you.. Take me away.. Please!" She was crying hysterically.

"Shh, Cristine. We will leave. You will call Mere-"

"No!" Cristina cut him off. "No! I just want to go.. Please, please.."

Call the real estate agent. Find a house. Sing a resignation. He'd do anything for her. Because he put her on that plane. All the decisions were hers now. "I'll find us a place to stay."

"Thank you.. I'm sorry."

Owen was running his fingers through her hair. "Don't be. I'll take care of it. We'll leave. We'll have a new life."

No second thoughts. He put her on that plane. All the decisions were hers.

_This is for the ones who stand_

_For the ones who try again_

_For the ones who need a hand_

_For the ones who think they can_

_Greg Laswell - Comes And Goes (In Waves)_


	13. I Lived

**A/N: Well, I hope that this crowen moving away storyline won't make you stop reading the fanfiction. I really thought it through and it's not pointless. Cristina needs to recover and this is one of the ways to do that. Anyway, please leave a review and tell me what you like and what I should improve:)**

* * *

She tried to think of it as a road trip. Road trip sounded much more fun than running away. That's why, whenever they stopped for gas or to grab something small to eat, she always got out of the car, walked to the edge of the gas station and looked at the countryside. It didn't matter if it was day or night, she tried to enjoy it as much as possible.

They were driving to their new home. There was no way Cristina would get on a plane ever again. All their stuff were packed on the back of Owen's pick-up truck, they left many things behind, not everything could fit.

Owen's biggest worry, that kept spinning his head around while driving, was what he's going to do about his, eventually their, jobs. Obviously he was going to stay home with Cristina for some time, but that couldn't last forever. And there weren't many good medical centers where they were headed to. Eventually he became so tired of this issue, that he just couldn't think about medicine anymore.

"How are you, honey?"

Cristina opened her eyes, yawned and looked at him. "Oh, okay.. Are we there yet?"

Owen smiled. "Almost. Just a couple more miles." They were driving for two days. There was a short stop to sleep somewhere in the middle of the way, but otherwise they were on the road all the time.

"I miss Meredith and Alex already.."

"You should've told her, Cristina," Owen said. He's been suggesting that since they agreed on leaving, but Cristina kept saying that meeting with Meredith would just bring up more bad memories.

"I left them a letter," Cristina reminded him. She wrote a short letter for Alex, in which she asked him to repeat the information to Meredith. It was just a couple of sentences long, no cliché goodbyes, just straight facts. And an apology. "I'm already worried that I'll be still recognized as 'Cristina Yang, the victim of the last month's plane crash' here."

"I think I have a patch for that. It might not work, but it still beats the hell out of not trying." Owen tried to stay focused on the road. They were just a couple of minutes out of their destination. "You can take my last name."

Cristina laughed. "You think that it'll work? How exactly is that supposed to help?!" She has already given away too many pieces of herself.

"Think about it," he encouraged her. "The victim of the plane crash was Cristina Yang. You can be Cristina Hunt. You can have a whole new life." _You can be mine._

She scoffed. "That changes nothing."

He briefly looked at her before gluing his eyes back on the road. "You think?" Before she could respond him, he cut her off again. "We're here. Well, Cristina, this is-"

"Hartford. Hartford in Vermont," Cristina completed his sentence, stunned. "You should've told me where you were taking us, Owen."

"You know this place?" he asked in surprise.

Cristina looked out of the car's window, taking in the sight of the town time has taken away long ago. It was before dawn, so the town was empty. "I grew up here."

"You grew up in Beverly Hills," Owen said, surprised and concerned at the same time.

She turned around to face him a lightly touched his thigh with her left hand. "My dad used to live here. "

* * *

_"Just throw the ball already, daddy!" little girl squealed while running happily back and forth in the park. _

_The man, standing thirty feet away from her, laughed. "Are you sure you're ready to catch it, Cris?"_

_The girl brushed a stray curl off her face. "I am five! I'm a big girl, dad!"_

_"Okay then." The man winked at his daughter, who was getting ready to catch the ball. He waited for a couple more seconds and then threw it her way. _

_She steadily caught the ball and securely wrapped her arms around it. "Yay! I got it!"_

_"I knew you'll make it, baby girl," he cheered and outstretched her arms towards her. "Come here."_

_Cristina dropped the ball on the soft, green grass and ran to her dad. "I'm not a baby. I caught the ball, remember?"_

_He picked her up and spun her around in his arms, her red dress with white dots flying around. He kept her in his arms and kissed her cheek. "Way to go, Crissie."_

_She smiled at him, exposing a gap between her teeth where a milk tooth once was. "Thanks dad."_

_He mischievously grinned back at her. "Do you wanna try one more time?"_

_"Yes!"_

* * *

"I am sorry, Cristina. I should've discussed it with you," Owen said. He was trying to get a word out of her for the past ten minutes, but she was lost in her own thoughts.

Her gaze was fixed on the land she asked Owen to drive to. She didn't expect the empty land she was looking at. She expected a two story brown house with an antique rocking chair on the front porch. A cherry tree near the sidewalk. An old, handmade swing hanging from one of it's branches. But all she was seeing was an empty land.

"Drive us to our house, Owen," she asked him quietly. "Please."

Owen started the engine again and a couple of minutes later, he pulled over at an old, rather little, blue house. "This is ours."

Cristina tried to form a smile. "Not as pretty as the Seattle one, but I think I can get used to it." She unbuckled the seat belt. "I'm glad to be back in Hartford."

He watched her get out of the car and walk to the front porch of the house. He quickly followed her example and before she could touch the doorknob, he was standing behind her with one arm around her waist.

She was holding the doorknob. "I can't. Not yet." She dropped her hand and turned around to embrace Owen.

"We'll wait," he ensured her. "We have all the time we need."

"I'm sorry, Owen," Cristina whispered against his chest. "I am sorry about what I did to you. You left everything behind.. For me."

"I don't care where we live. You are the one thing I need. You make my world." He brought her chin up and planted a soft kiss on her lips. This was one of her good moments. He knew very well that she could fall apart anytime, whenever you least expect it. After the plane crash, she was more unpredictable than ever before.

"Okay. Let's do this." She let go of Owen and reached out for the doorknob. "Let's start fresh."

* * *

Back in Seattle, Alex and Meredith were sitting on a bed in an on-call room. Alex was holding a white envelope in his hands. "Ready, Mer?"

"Just open it," Meredith said, holding back tears.

Alex tore the envelope open a took out a list of paper. There were a few sentences scribbled on it.

_Alex, I'm leaving Seattle._

_I can't stay here. Tell Meredith that I love her and I'm sorry._

_I love you and I will miss you._

_Goodbye._

_Hope when you take that jump_  
_You don't fear the fall_  
_Hope when the water rises_  
_You build a wall_

_OneRepublic - I Lived_


End file.
